Jane Eyre
Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)
“I think the reason we’re so struck by [Jane Eyre] is how Charlotte Brontë manages to relate, expertly, what it means to be a human being…and that never changes.” (Narrator Thandiwe Newton)
Following Jane from her childhood as an orphan in Northern England through her experience as a governess at Thornfield Hall, Charlotte Brontë’s Gothic classic is an early exploration of women’s independence in the mid-19th century and the pervasive societal challenges women had to endure. At Thornfield, Jane meets the complex and mysterious Mr. Rochester, with whom she shares a complicated relationship that ultimately forces her to reconcile the conflicting passions of romantic love and religious piety. Performing the early Victorian novel with great care and respect, actress Thandiwe Newton (Crash, The Pursuit of Happyness) draws out Jane Eyre’s intimacy and depth while conveying how truly progressive Brontë was in an era of extreme restraint.
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Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)
“I think the reason we’re so struck by [Jane Eyre] is how Charlotte Brontë manages to relate, expertly, what it means to be a human being…and that never changes.” (Narrator Thandiwe Newton)
Following Jane from her childhood as an orphan in Northern England through her experience as a governess at Thornfield Hall, Charlotte Brontë’s Gothic classic is an early exploration of women’s independence in the mid-19th century and the pervasive societal challenges women had to endure. At Thornfield, Jane meets the complex and mysterious Mr. Rochester, with whom she shares a complicated relationship that ultimately forces her to reconcile the conflicting passions of romantic love and religious piety. Performing the early Victorian novel with great care and respect, actress Thandiwe Newton (Crash, The Pursuit of Happyness) draws out Jane Eyre’s intimacy and depth while conveying how truly progressive Brontë was in an era of extreme restraint.


Lindsay W –
Critique of Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is written by Charlotte Bronte, who is a famous female novelist in England during nineteen century. This is also the first famous book she wrote. The book was written in Sheffield, England which is also the hometown of Charlotte. A lot of people consider this book Charlotte’s autobiography. That’s not exactly true but we still can find many personal experiences of Charlotte’s in that book. The entire book’s theme shows the values that humans should always live with dignity and love.The book tells a story about a woman named Jane Eyre. Jane was born in a very poor churchman’s family and her parents died of enterotyphus when she was very young. She had to live in her uncle’s family. Her aunt was a very mean and snobbish woman. She used a lot of ways to abuse Jane and even taught her child to bully Jane. Jane lived there for ten years, but she never yielded to her aunt so her aunt just treated her worse and worse. After Jane’s uncle died, her aunt sent her to an orphanage. Although the life in the orphanage was still hard, and children there could not get enough food and the teachers treat them very curly, Jane got her first friend in the orphanage, a girl named Helen. Helen gave Jane much comfort and support but this happiness for her did not last too long; Helen also died by enterotyphus. After that the orphanage improved. Jane studied there for six years and taught there for two more years. Then she left the orphanage and was hired by the steward of Thornfield Hall as a tutor. Thornfiled was a big manor owned by Edward Fairfax Rochester. The life in Thornfield was good and after a long time Mr. Rochester spent with Jane, he was deeply attracted by Jane’s dignified character. Jane also fell in love with Mr. Rochester. Before their marriage, bad news come, Jane was told that Mr. Rochester was already married and his violently insane wife was locked in Thornfield Hall. Jane could not bear this shock and left Thronfiled manor. Her life truned harder after she left Thornfield. After a few months later, a clergyman named St. John took Jane in and gave her a job teaching at a local school. One day, Jane got a large amount of money as inheritance from her dead uncle, which her aunt had been keeping from her, Jane also learned from her aunt that St. John is her cousin. At this time St. John asks Jane to marry him and go to India to do missionary work. Jane refused him and realized she was still in love with Mr. Rochester so she decided to go back to him. When she came back to Thornfield Hall, it had already become a ruin. She was told that after she left, the insane woman set a fire in Thornfild Hall, and died during the fire. Mr. Rochester also was hurt during the fire. When Jane returned to him, he was not rich anymore and had become a poor disabled man. But Jane did not care about this at all; she found Mr. Rochester and married him.I strongly recommend Jane Eyre. This novel is very engaging. The plot of the novel is continuous and changes a lot. Every girl should read this book because it teaches you how to be an independent woman with dignity. There are so many characteristics of Jane’s that are very valuable in today’s society.When I first connected with Jane Eyre, I was a fairytale age girl. Strange thing was when my mother read the novel for me; I was fell in love with it very soon. The story was interesting and I was always curious about what’s happen next. Little Jane’s poor experiences and her brave impressed me deeply. Those contents really motivated me a strong sense of compassion which is really important for every child in their growth. I still remember when I knew that Jane was locked in a dark room by her aunt. I felt so worry about her and after her recovered form that disaster, I felt so happy for her. That’s definitely a good lecture for me that how to share the same feeling with a friend. Little Jane also taught me that no matter how bad thing you experience, you should keep your heart pure and dignity, and always fight against unfair rules until you get the freedom. One more important thing I learned from the book is grasp every opportunity to study. Jane read a lot of book during she lived under her aunt abuse, she learned so much in the orphanage. The difference between Jane and others is she never gives up study or the process to enrich her inner world no matter how terrible the outside environment is. She successfully transfers her miserable live to her tenacious soul. All of these made her a thoughtful woman, and that also the reason for Mr. Rochester is attracted by Jane.The second time I read Jane Eyre was during my high school. At that period I was very depressed due to a heavy course load and a sharp competition. In an unexpected chance, I decided read Jane Eyre again. From I opened the book; I could not drop it any more. I finished it in three days. During I read the book, I felt so peaceful and calm. That’s exactly what I needed for that period and I had lost this feeling for a long time. Beside my spiritual enjoyment, the book also gives me a strong influence on my value system. Until now, I still strongly believe that true love should build on the respect of each other. That’s what Jane Eyre told me. This time I have a deeper understanding on the relationship between Jane Eyre and Edward Fairfax Rochester. At the beginning, Edward is a rich, strong and talented upper class man. But the real of him is a lonely heart, until he met Jane. A lot of women approach him in order of him money, but Jane is totally different. She did not care about him money or his social statue, she care about him just because she loves Edward and she really wants to comfort him from his painful experiences. Edward also loves Jane and appreciates her. He respects Jane and views her as his true friend in soul, he likes to talk with Jane and share his feeling with her. Their love is deep and stable. The ending of the story is not perfect but it’s the best ending for Jane. She needn’t choose from her love or her majesty. She obtains both of them. In the end, Edward became an old and poor blind man, but Jane still married with him. The only thing changed is they love each other deeper. This ending emphasizes Jane’s characteristics as well as the substance of the book, which is the wroth of live should be respect and love.The negative part of Jane Eyre is the writer strength too much on Jane’s insistence and independence. But in real world, things may much more complexes and cannot be overcome just by insistence and independence. However, I still believe Jane’s characteristics will always shining in all times. Another negative echo for Jane Eyre is the book is not profundity enough. It only tells a story about a woman’s life and her love experience, it did not tell enough about the time-background or the class contradiction. But I think that’s just the reason that Jane Eyre do not bring too much heaviness to reader but the enjoyable feeling.All in all, I love the novel Jane Eyre. I believe everyone should read it; because it likes a cup of ice water, simple and clean, purify every reader’s sprite.
BookAWeekMan –
Jane Eyre – An Education in the Art of Sublime Prose
Jane Eyre – An Education in the Art of Sublime ProseBy Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)Novels can be revered for their intriguing plots, their well-developed and believable characters, their themes/morals, their history lessons, or simply for the beauty of their prose (here defined as their choice of words, metaphors, similes, vocabulary and their sentence structure, which aggregate to enable the reader to experience scenes, thoughts, and emotions as only iconic wording allows). Truly great “prose”, defined in the foregoing manner, is virtually non-extant in the world of 2014. Jane Eyre subsumes, cleanses and bathes us in it. When first written, it turned British society quite on its ear, and it continues to sell well to this day.While the plot and themes of Jane Eyre are only average and somewhat predictable, her prose, oh, her prose, is straight from paradise, so moving as to make it almost impossible to put the novel down. With rare exceptions, we can find such prose only in “the classics” and, even there, far from all classics offer truly great prose; greatness comes in many forms and beautiful wording is only one form of literary Elysium. Charlotte Bronte’s vocabulary and imagery paint pictures and define feelings that no artist’s brush could generate; and her ability to get inside the human mind and bring it into clear vision, via dialogue or the character’s thoughts, inspires the reader’s veneration. Her characters tend too far in one dimension, but we must forgive that as then thirtyish-Charlotte surely still suffered from a tad of idealism, which in no way diminished the stunning profundity of her characters’ thought-processes. Realism predominates nonetheless, as Charlotte Bronte’s short life mirrored large parts of those auto-biographically attributed to her similarly Plain Jane-student-governess-teacher, Jane Eyre. As with all great authors, we find them within their characters.Most authors, it has been often asserted, have one central theme which is recurrent in all their works. Having read only one work of Charlotte Bronte’s, I cannot so conclude as to her. However, Jane Eyre offers such a central theme: heterosexual love that is based primarily on chemistry (physical appearance) will generally be short-lived, while such love based upon the mind and character of one’s mate, and the mental similarities between mates, will last. Logic dictates this, but the hormones of youth consistently ignore this patent truths. Bronte also adds hope for those who are average in appearance (“Plain Jane’s”, such as the aptly-named Jane, who even becomes an “heir”/Eyre), who finds a Romeo-and-Juliet level of love with her Edward Rochester, and who is even the object of a marriage proposal from a handsome missionary, St. John Rivers, whose name echoes his virtue and positive flow (river) of his efficacy. Mercifully, for herself and her transfixed Reader, Jane makes the prudent choice. (Having found such constant love myself, I can confirm its existence, and, happily for the author, she putatively found it some seven years after she published Jane Eyre, although, sadly, this was only one year before she fell prey to a fatal strain of typhus and dehydration while pregnant, at the then tender age of 39.)Published in 1847 by a poet and authoress incredibly then only 32, Jane Eyre became an overnight sensation and remains a popular classic to this day. It was the first of Charlotte Bronte’s several novels, before she died in 1855, at age 39. Writing in the era where novels by women were not acceptable, she wrote under several male-pennames. Initially, she self-published with her similarly savant sisters (Emily and Anne), one of whom, Emily, wrote the ever-popular “Wuthering Heights”. Sadly, all three of the famous, polymathic Bronte sisters died in their thirties, as had their mother; yet their legacy is among the greatest in all Western literature.For readers who want to elevate their literary tastes to a new level, Jane Eyre is a perfect place to start. Treat yourself to it; read Jane Eyre; no, don’t “read” it; savor it, slowly, and re-read many her arresting passages, lest you miss the latent profundity and subtle beauty and the powers of observation that emanate only from genius. If you do read it, and study and ferment its nuances with assiduity, your mind will soar and grow with Charlotte Bronte. While some found her to be a diminutive, plain, diffident and taciturn scholar in person, whoever she was, she had an abundance to teach us. I, for one, remain in her debt for many hours of intriguing reading filled with incredible insights which have enhanced my ability to see and enjoy the subtle facets of all that life has to offer.BookAWeekMan (leelovett.info)
SANTI ALBANO –
cadeau d’anniversaire parfait.merci
Wafaa –
الطابعة كويسة جودتها متوسطة لكن المبلغ كتير عليه و الكتاب جالي الغلاف بتاعه متني شوية من تحت
Franz79 –
Trama:Dopo un’infanzia difficile, di povertà e di privazioni, la giovane Jane trova la via del riscatto: si procura un lavoro come istruttrice presso la casa di un ricco gentiluomo, il signor Rochester. I due iniziano a conoscersi, si parlano, si confrontano e imparano a rispettarsi. Dal rispetto nasce l’amore e la possibilità per Jane di una vita serena. ma proprio quando un futuro meraviglioso appare vicino, viene alla luce una terribile verità, quasi a dimostrare che Jane non può essere felice, non può avere l’amore, non può sfuggire al suo destino. Rochester sembra celare un tremendo segreto: una presenza minacciosa si aggira infatti nelle soffitte del suo tetro palazzo.E’ un libro piacevole, che si legge tutto d’un fiato. La storia è avvincente, ma non è una favola, potrebbe essere benissimo una storia vera, poichè non termina con un finale scontato o completamente felice.E’ un libro che ricalca perfettamente la vita dell’epoca, immortalandola in un ritratto eterno.Citazione:“In genere si suppone che le donne siano molto calme; ma le donne hanno gli stessi sentimenti degli uomini: hanno bisogno di esercitare le loro facoltà e di una palestra per i loro sforzi, al pari dei loro fratelli; soffrono per una costrizione troppo rigida, per un troppo completo ristagno esattamente come soffrirebbero gli uomini; ed è segno di ristrettezza mentale sostenere che queste creature privilegiate dovrebbero limitarsi a infornar sformati, far la calza, suonare il piano e ricamar borsette. E’ stupido condannarle e prendersi gioco di loro se cercano di fare e di imparare più di quanto il costume abbia stabilito necessario per il loro sesso.”
Ömer –
Kitap çok şık
Katja H. Labonté –
5+ stars & 9/10 hearts. I LOVED this book. Wow. I did not expect to love it so much! I read it several times as a kid and was profoundly impacted by the setting and storyline. Rereading it as an adult, I was impacted by the themes, messages, and characters.Jane Eyre is often seen as a dark book. I, instead, found it very beautiful and hopeful. I loved Jane. She was so wise and strong and loving. Really, she became one of my favourite female characters ever. Her story is so sad and yet it is hopeful too. I would love to be a Jane—so willing to help, so eager to love, so strong in trial, so full of faith. The way she combats suicide and depression, grief and pain, pressure and cruelty to live the life she knows God wants for her, is wonderfully inspiring.Mr. Rochester was another character I loved. I related to his weakness and his desire to do good but his lack of willingness to try to be good. After all, he had a good heart. He could have done any number of things to the woman he was chained with and yet he did do her the best he could—as he thought. I loved seeing his redemption arc so much. And as a man, he was just a very entertaining, fascinating, interesting person….St. John I strongly disliked. What a hypocritical, supercilious Pharisee. He was a “good” man and yet he was not a good man. He was certain that he and he alone was right. He even tried to play God with Jane. If she had obeyed him, she would have killed herself (no use at all to the Lord) and have run right by her true calling. And he was cruel and harsh to her—while pretending to be as merciful and long-suffering as Christ Jesus. I couldn’t stand St. John. Yet his sisters were lovely!The plot was fascinating. Twisty and unexpected all the way to the end, and so varied—from the luxurious but abusive Reed home to Lowood, first cold and cruel, then warm and nurturing; from Thornfield Hall, so dark and gloomy, haunted by a sinister secret, yet blossoming with love and happiness; to the moors, stern and beautiful, and the little village, simple and hearty… and then, the ending place—damp, lonely, and full of human joy. The messages are wonderful—so many reminders about the seriousness of marriage; about not putting up idols in your heart instead of God; about being yourself but in a holy, temperate way; about true charity, about the foolishness of ranks and caste; about the meaning of true love… While there is sadness and ugliness presented in this book, and Brontë does not shy away from portraying sin (see content list below), everything was well handled and was only used to make redemption and Light stand out. The writing style is simply brilliant and the humour excellent; the other characters are all so alive and varied and interesting; the setting is fascinating and so well detailed… it’s a simply beautiful book with a really beautiful message.Content: drinking; smoking; kissing, touching, hugging, between Jane & Mr. R. before engagement; Mr. R. had many mistresses & an illegitimate child; he tries to get Jane to live with him without being married; attempted bigamy; some language; some theology I don’t necessarily agree with. Recommended age: 18+A Favourite Quote: “I hold another creed … in which I delight, and to which I cling: for it extends hope to all: it makes Eternity a rest—a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end.”A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “I saw the fascination of the locality. I felt the consecration of its loneliness: my eye feasted on the outline of swell and sweep—on the wild colouring communicated to ridge and dell by moss, by heath-bell, by flower-sprinkled turf, by brilliant bracken, and mellow granite crag. These details were just to me what they were to them—so many pure and sweet sources of pleasure. The strong blast and the soft breeze; the rough and the halcyon day; the hours of sunrise and sunset; the moonlight and the clouded night, developed for me, in these regions, the same attraction as for them—wound round my faculties the same spell that entranced theirs.”A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘What age were you when you went to Lowood?’“‘About ten.’“‘And you stayed there eight years: you are now, then, eighteen?’“I assented.“‘Arithmetic, you see, is useful; without its aid, I should hardly have been able to guess your age.’”